1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a data communication apparatus and method for sending or transmitting data to a terminal connected to a local area network (LAN).
2. Related Background Art
Conventionally, a facsimile apparatus has been remarkably developed on the basis of international standards in the field of communication by International Telecommunications Union (ITU). That is, in the initial stage, the facsimile apparatus had been based on initial international standards Group 1 and Group 2. However, recently the facsimile apparatus has been based on an internal standard Group 3 (to be referred as G3 hereinafter) and thus developed all over the world. A G3 facsimile apparatus which is most popular at present is defined by ITU Recommendations T.4, T.30, T.5 and T.6 (previous CCITT Recommendations), and it is being planned that the G3 facsimile apparatus is further standardized with new functions in the future.
In recent years, according to a popularization of a personal computer and the like, it had been desired to connect the facsimile apparatus to a local area network (to be referred as LAN hereinafter) which connects a number of personal computers. By connecting the facsimile apparatus to the LAN, document data or the like produced by the personal computer on the LAN can be transmitted via the facsimile apparatus to a partner""s apparatus in response to a transmission request from the personal computer, and data received by the facsimile apparatus can be transferred to the personal computer on the LAN.
However, conventionally, when the facsimile apparatus receives the transmission request from the personal computer on the LAN, the facsimile apparatus immediately transmits the data to the partner""s apparatus. Furthermore, when the facsimile apparatus receives the data from the partner""s apparatus, the facsimile apparatus transfers a reception notification for the received data to the personal computer on the LAN every time the data reception is performed. Therefore, there has been a problem that, if a number of transmissions to the same destination or a number of receptions to the same destination are performed, communication efficiency is seriously degraded. More particularly, there has been a problem that communication traffic in the LAN is seriously degraded.
An object of the present invention is to provide a data communication apparatus and method which eliminate the above-mentioned problems.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a data communication apparatus and method which can improve efficiency in the use of a line.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a data communication apparatus and method which can reduce a user""s load of a terminal on a local area network (LAN).
A further object of the present invention is to provide a data communication apparatus and method which can perform a collective data transfer for each receiver on the LAN.
The above and other objects of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.